Shirt stay



April 1,2, 1938.

l.. l.. HOLBEN SHIRT STAY Filed Oct. 5, 1936 i INVIENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 12, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEv Application October 5,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to shirt stays and has for an object to provide a neat attractive device formed of rubber and having its opposite faces provided with corrugations molded at an angle whereby when the device is applied to the waist band of trousers or skirts the teeth will function to work the clothes in the right direction and prevent the shirt from creeping u'p.

A further object is to provide a device of this character having the opposite surfaces distinguished by contrasting colors, for instance one surface may be colored red and the other surface colored black to indicate toughness and elasticity as well as to provide visible means to enable one to apply the device with the corrugated teeth pointed in the right direction.

A further object is to provide a device of this character which will be formed of a few parts, which will be strong and durable, inexpensive to manufacture, and which will not easily get out of order.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, it being understood that various modifications may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit or sacricing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective View showing trousers and a, shirt held against relative creeping by a device constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of one of the shirt stays in applied position.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a plurality of the shirt stays in applied position on the inside of the waist band.

Figure 5 is a front elevation of a modified form of shirt stay.

n Referring now to the drawing in which like characters of reference designate similar parts in the various views, I l] designates the waist band of a pair of trousers and II designates a shirt. As is well known, there is a tendency for a shirt to creep up and the trousers to creep down regardless of how tight the wearers belt may be adjusted.

To overcome this annoying relative creeping of overlapping garments I provide a shirt stay comprising two substantially oblong rubber 1936, .serial Nc. 104,140

(o1. zii- 7) layers I2 and I3 the layers having their inner faces integrally secured together by vulcanization or other means. The outer face of the layer I2 is provided with corrugations or teeth it pointed downwardly, as best shown in Figure 3, 5

and the layer I3 is provided on the outer face with corrugations or teeth I5 pointed upwardly. Moreover, the layers I2 and I 3 are formed of rubf ber compounds having contrasting colors, for eX- ample, the layer I2 which engages the shirt may 10 be black while the layer I 3 which engages the waist band may be red. These two differently colored rubber layers also have different degrees of toughness and elasticity, the black layer I 2 which engages the shirt being characterized by l5 greater elasticity than the red layer I3 which engages the waist band.

The red layer I3 has greater toughness or stiffness than the black layer I 2. Thus the red layer i3 will have sufficient stiffness to be firmly an- 20 chored to the waist band while the black layer l2 will have sufficient resiliency to yieldably engage the shirt and yield somewhat to the movements of the wearer so that the device may be worn with comfort.

A blank I6 of any suitable stiff material is in-y terleaved between the two layers I2 and I3 and is provided above and below the layers with eyes I1 and I8 respectively. 'I'he upper eye I 'I encircles the back of a safety pin I9 while the lower 30 eye encircles the back of a safety pin 2li. Both safety pins are of contrasting colors to indicate their respective layers, the upper safety pin being preferably brass, while the lower safety pin is preferably nickel.

A plurality of the shirt stays, preferably four, are secured to the inner face of the waist band I, by hooking the safety pins I9 and 20 through the waist 'band to dispose the shirt stays in Vertical position on the waist band. In applying each 40 shirt stay the black rubber layer I 2, with the downwardly pointed teeth I 4, is exposed to engage the shirt while the red rubber layer I3 with the upwardly pointed teeth I 5 confronts the waist band to engage the waist band when the wearers 45 belt is tightened. Relative creeping of the waist band and shirt will be eliminated since the downwardly pointed teeth of the black layer I2 tends to work the shirt downwardly while the upwardly pointed teeth of the red layer I3 tends to work the 50 waist band upwardly.

One advantage of the contrasting colors of the rubber layers and the contrasting colors of the safety pins, is to enable the wearer to quickly determine the proper position in which the stay must be fastened to engage the clothing with the teeth of the layers extending in the proper angular direction without the necessity of careful examination when applying the shirt stay. Also these distinctive colorings simplify instructions for applying the device, as for instance place the red side toward the body With the gold pin at the top. Also the distinctive coloring permits of the shirt stay being applied properly by persons having poor eyesight and also being applied properly in dim light.

A modified form of the invention is shown in Figure 5 Which is identical with the construction above described except that the safety pins are dispensed with and tabs 2i and 22 substituted therefor at the ends of the shirt stay 23. These tabs are provided with respective button holes 24 and 25 to receive buttons 26 and 21 which are sewed in Vertical applied position on the waist band 28.

From the above description it is thought that the construction and operation of the invention Will be fully understood Without further explanation.

What is claimed is:

1. A shirt stay comprising corrugated rubber layers of contrasting colors, the corrugations of the layers comprising teeth disposed obliquely to the face of the layer, the teeth of one layer being turned oppositely to the teeth of the other layer, one layer being more elastic than the other layer, and securing devices attached to the ends of the layers.

2. A shirt stay comprising two rubber layers having different degrees of toughness and elasticity, respectively, the layers being distinguished by contrasting colors, attaching means on the ends of the layers distinguished by contrasting colors, and corrugations on the outer faces of the layers comprising teeth disposed obliquely to the face of the layer, the teeth of one layer being turned oppositely to the teeth of the other layer.

3. A shirt stay comprising rubber layers vulcanized together and having corrugated outer surfaces, the corrugations forming teeth disposed obliquely to the face of the layer, the teeth of one layer being turned oppositely to the teeth of the other layer, and button hole tabs carried by the ends of the layers.

LEONARD L. HOLBEN. 

